Ever since The Producers hit in big on Broadway in 2001, it's been trendy to make musicals out of movies, especially cult movies with built-in cultural cache. Eric Idle of Monty Python obviously noted all the rules for this kind of adaptation, and then decided it'd be fun to completely ignore them.

Thus came Spamalot, a musical adaptation of Monty Python and the Holy Grail that tries as hard as it can to not be. The production, a 2005 Broadway hit that holds court at the Center for the Performing Arts through Sept. 20, is as much a satire of the musical genre, in the same way that Holy Grail was a satire of sword-and-stone flicks. It's almost as if Idle, who wrote Spamalot along with musical collaborator John Du Prez, saw this as his one chance to get in every possible dig at Broadway pomp, resulting in some classic stuff. "The Song That Goes Like This" is a note-perfect send-up of the Andrew Lloyd Weber formula, with stars Christopher Gurr as King Arthur and Merle Dandridge as the Lady of the Lake pointing out the obvious about their duet in hilarious detail. "Find your Grail" deflates empty-headed "message" songs, and "Knights of the Round Table" (the only song from the original film) gets a lounge version.

I feel it's only fair to point out that this review is now three paragraphs in, and hasn't referenced the Spam song, saying ni, cherries, mud, a duck, a dead parrot, lumberjacks, whether or not this shop has any cheese at all, your favorite color, or if this is the right room for an argument. In fact, the only nerdy Monty Python joke I plan to make is a Joke Not Appearing in This Review.

Idle was able to sharpen Spamalot's satire by bending the Holy Grail story to actually include the staging of a musical. Most of the best comedic bits from the film are played out by the actors in some form or another, and most eventually lead to a song. Some classic bits from Monty Python's television series Flying Circus have been worked in, and there's some impressively topical humor, like a swipe at Kanye inserted the day after his idiotic VMA tirade.

The cast is quite good—and even though it's sometimes odd to hear such familiar bits delivered differently, sometimes it's actually an improvement. In general, however, they comport themselves quite like Pythons themselves, which is a must. The effects are impressive, and the sets are ingeniously done in the style of the troupe's animator Terry Gilliam. Go to Spamalot. It is a silly place. Damn, that's two.

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